PWIF had its headquarters in Brussels.[4] The membership fee of PWIF was ten pound Sterling per 1,000 members.[2] Moreover, the build-up of PWIF was supported by the International Solidarity Fund of ICFTU (in fact PWIF was one of the main recipients of this support during its short existence).[5]
The Interim Executive Committee of PWIF held its first meeting in Tunis on July 11, 1957.[6] Until the foundation of PWIF Powell Claret had been in charge of Havana Office of the Special Plantations Committee of ICFTU.[2][4] Bavin on the other hand was a known ICFTU organiser of plantation unions in Asia.[6] With the launching of PWIF, the scope of Bavin's activity was expanded to Africa and Latin America.[7] M.D. Barrett was seconded by the Commonwealth Section of the TUC International Department to support PWIF.[8]
PWIF contracted W. Morgan of the London School of Economics to carry out a survey of the global tea industry. Barrett's secondment was extended and in December 1958 he was sent to Tanganyika as the PWIF representative there.[8] In Tanganyika Barrett managed to organise a union, the Tanganyika Sisal and Plantation Workers Union (TSPWU).[8][9] PWIF donated a landrover to TSPWU, in order to enable organising in remote areas.[9]